CHAPTER VI. 
DISEASES OF FERNS. 
Perns, like all other plants, are subject to various ene- 
mies, endangering their being more or less injured or 
even devoured entirely. Snails and slugs are very fond 
of indulging themselves in a hearty repast of young 
fern fronds, and they will clear off those of the more 
delicate and succulent species as fast as they appear 
above the ground. When we look at a magnified draw- 
ing of the tongue of a snail, beset with its hundreds of 
teeth, we no longer wonder at the ravages they commit 
among our pets in the fernery. Very early morning, 
while the dew is on the ground, or late evening, is the 
time to make war upon them most successfully. The 
ferns have even more serious enemies among the beetle 
tribe. The grubs of the Otorhyncus sulcatus infest 
ferneries to a great extent, and have much better chances 
of eluding observation than the snail family. Rabbits 
nibble them freely when they can affect an entiance, 
but this is a danger occurring rarely, and easy to guard 
against. There are three kinds of fungi which fix 
themselves parasitically upon the fronds ; one is the 
Uredo filicum, it is minute, of a red colour, and infests 
various ferns, as Cystopteris fragilis , Polypodium Dryo- 
